


A Brief Talk on Russians and Unicorns

by Koniro_Yotsuyu



Series: The Battle of Winter and Summer [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Biting, Flirting, Kissing, M/M, metaphisical talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:57:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6838144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koniro_Yotsuyu/pseuds/Koniro_Yotsuyu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Tony have a confrontation about tea, power and whether Tony can live up to all the stuff he says or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Brief Talk on Russians and Unicorns

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate version of TTYL Chapter five, you can read it here http://archiveofourown.org/works/6767512/chapters/15608581  
> Lost? Check out the Index of the series!!! http://archiveofourown.org/works/6972436

Tony put the kettle on the fire, making himself at home in this new place, Shwarma had somehow been more awkward than that time in new York, so his stomach was rumbling a little, nobody seemed to really want to talk and Scott had stormed out in the middle of it, after he made a joke that he doesn’t even remember anymore. To be honest the only reason why it was taking place at all was that Steve kept glaring at everyone as if to say “you are going to stay and eat and you will like it” like the mother hen that he was. He didn’t expect much better nevertheless, and in all honesty, he also didn’t care about becoming best friends with anyone at that table. So some tea should be enough to cheer him up.

 “You don’t strike me as the type of person who drinks tea” Steve said behind him

“That’s because I’m not” he replied and paused for a moment, preparing the infusion and staring at the cup like it had all the answers in the world “Bruce really likes tea”

His voice grew somewhat somber “You miss him don’t you?”

“I miss a lot of things” he pointed out “Tea sort of grew on me, Bruce didn’t, I was a fan of him before I even met him, and when I did, I realized I had somehow managed to not give the guy enough credit even then”

Steve moved closer “Can I have some as well?”

 “Of course” he prepared a cup for him too.

There was a silent moment in which the two of them just focused on their cups

“What do you miss the most? About your time and all”

Steve raised his hands unknowingly and let out a soft, voiceless laugh “So many things…”his eyes diverted

“Oh, I know that look, you have something but you don’t want to say it because you think it will sound bad”

“What kind of pattern prediction led you to that?”

“None cap, you just are entirely transparent, come on, you know I won’t hold it against you”

He sighed “ok I miss… I miss the kind of war I was fighting. Back then the good guy was the one for freedom and the totalitarian regime murdering innocent people was the bad guy. And the war would be resolved by seeing who was stronger. Nowadays, there’s this whole underground system of relations and ideological grey areas, I don’t really have a strong concept to fight for anymore.”

“Ohh yeah you kind of missed the Cold War didn’t you? That was kind of a huge deal.”

He chuckled “I know I should be more interested in peace than the kind of war I prefer, but I can’t really bring myself to not be a little um… terrified by how sinister this new ordeal is.”

“Well yeah but, in your kind of war… one of us would have had to kill or kidnap the other, staying true to the spirit of the say it like it is, hands on the table idea”

“That’s completely different”

“Is it really?” he stiffened his shoulders and tilted his head back for a second, like he tends to do when he is skeptic about something “Isn’t this a power play?” he gestured with his hands

Steve was silent for a moment “why did you give me that shield? You don’t seem to be trying to build a wall in the middle of Germany”

“Well I could have given you the vibranium one, but I figured that, considering our current location, you would have no need for that particular one” he purposely skipped the question with a grin and waited a long moment basking in his frustration. “Do you know how power-play works? He left his empty cup on the counter to begin his explanation:

“There are a number of things I could say and do right now, that number is infinite, a super-cool concept with no empirical value. In the real world, nothing can be quantified as infinite. Everything is finite, the stars, the number of atoms in the galaxy; everything that exists within the realms of past and present is finite.”He made a pause to let that sink in before his eyes lit up as he continued “In the world of possibility, however, infinity does exist. But as we tried to predict which way things will happen, we chop down the numbers, there’s always a margin for error, because of that pesky infinity thing, but the current situation greatly limits our possibilities. So right here, right now, there are a number of things I would like to do that aren’t infinite. But that number itself gets chopped down because of the current power play in question.” He was twitching and moving his hands around even more than normal, clearly exited about what he was talking about.

“You know what limits my ability to act? You! Not because you are holding a pistol in your pocket, not because of the instant consequences of my actions right now. No. It’s because I have an interest in the way you act, which gives you a certain power over me. And in the same way, I have power over you because there are a number of things you want from me, knowing what the shield thing was about is one of them. And the things we can and cannot do are limited to each other. So amongst the possibilities that we have, we choose one of them hoping it will make us more powerful and less afraid. This has always existed Steve, these are the kind of confrontations that take place in diplomatic meetings. In the rear, with the gear. And the Sokovia accords were a possibility that we had that would make us less vulnerable to public opinion and the governments of the world. We would sign them with ink, not blood. You were right, this is not about ethics or morality, and it’s about power.”

“You have a surprisingly cynical way to see things”

Tony smirked “The cynic school of philosophy came from a group of guys who gathered around to live like homeless people, yell at the king and masturbate in public, if anything; I’m a nihilist, which is an entirely different concept”

“I didn’t know this was going to turn into a metaphysical/philosophical lecture”

“Why, are you finding it hard to keep up?” he teased him, an amused look on his face

“Bite me, Stark”

“Ohh that is well beyond the current realm of possibility”

“Why I thought those were infinite”

Tony had to admit he was a little impressed at that comeback, it wasn’t particularly witty or funny but it meant Steve had kept up with him 100%. He smirked “why, perhaps I could be sweet-talked into it”

“I doubt it, you are literally all bark and no bite”

“I’ve bitten many more apples than you, little unicorn” he insisted

Steve pursed his lips for a moment and then clicked his tongue “nah, I’m calling your bluff”

The air became thicker with every passing second. Until finally Tony made up his mind “You know, just because you had enough time to listen to my little exposition right there, it doesn’t mean that you can suddenly become an expert in this” he walked over and pulled him for a kiss.

He grabbed the hair on his nape to pull him close, but the kiss itself was tender and slow. He grinned at first, but Steve could feel his lips loosen as he kissed back, and when it did, his own smile grew. He cupped Tony’s neck with both hands and pressed his body close against his. The blonde let out a long breath as he relaxed into the kiss but right as he did, he was brought back up by a sharp pain in his lower lip. Tony moved back with a smug smile on his face.

”You bit me!” Steve reprimanded him incredulously, with a hand on the sore area.

His only response was a deep laugh. And a teasing little “woof” to further mock him, before Tony walked away.


End file.
